Baldwin Dodges on Single-Payer Question

FLASHBACK 2010: Representative tells supporters, 'I actually was for a government takeover of medicine'

Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D., Wis.) said she will not pursue a single-payer health care system if she is elected to the U.S. Senate, in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

During her 14 years in the U.S. House, Baldwin has often pushed for a single-payer health care system that would have the government pay all health care claims. Asked if she still supported a single-payer system, she said: "It's irrelevant. We have a bill (the Affordable Care Act) that was passed. I worked on it. I voted for it. That's what our task is going forward. It doesn't matter the debates of a decade ago or even more recently. We have passed a bill. I voted for it and now we need to put it to work and make it work for Wisconsin."

Baldwin has been a major advocate for single-payer in the past–in 2010, she told supporters at a rally, "I actually was for a government takeover of medicine. I was for a single-payer plan."